


If These Shelves Could Speak

by phandomestic



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, But mostly cute, Fluff, Fluff and Mush, Fluffy Ending, Just Hella Fluff, M/M, Student Dan, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and kinda funny, dan's so goddamn smitten i yell, it's just really cute ok, librarian Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7203380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phandomestic/pseuds/phandomestic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a slice-of-life-esque library au where dan has plans to study for an exam but a certain distraction by the name of hot librarian #1 gets in the way</p>
            </blockquote>





	If These Shelves Could Speak

**Author's Note:**

> Hot Librarian #1 being, of course, Phil Lester.
> 
> for phanficexchange / rayofsunlester. s'cute.

Dust settled in the quiet of Manchester’s John Rylands library. In the darkness, between the hours of 5PM and 10AM, the stacks can rest for just a moment. The large and seemingly endless shelves have their own stories to tell, those of which are far more simplistic than the volumes rich with knowledge or the tales within their spines. Instead were the common, ordinary scenes set by the people who have passed through over the years. These hushed whispers belonged to the students, the readers, the librarians. Mundanities yes, but ones that held importance all the same. Such is the case with two: Dan Howell and Phil Lester.

Now Dan was a law student attending the University of Manchester and, unappreciative of the distractions within the student dormitory, found it much preferable to spend an exam study session at the library instead. He had never considered visiting it before through the two years he’d been attending, but he soon found this languor to be lamentable after an account of awe and disbelief. A person needn’t be a reader to appreciate the gothic architecture, the high ceiling, the millions of books that formed to create such an impressive locale. The library was truly unlike anything he’d ever seen in his entire life.

For a moment, Dan had almost forgotten his original intention for being there. Amongst the students crowded in desks to do the very same as him, he eventually found an open spot in the corner tucked behind the fiction section. He pulled out his books and notes and then dropped his backpack as he situated himself next to the table. He truly wanted to do anything but this, and while obligation trumps any lack of motivation, his wish was eventually granted.

The words he read eventually transformed into incomprehensible and nonsensical dots and figures on a page. Of course he was reading it, but that didn’t mean he could or even wanted to put in the effort to conceptualize the information and store it into his memory. It wasn’t much longer until his mind began to wander and he reluctantly made the decision to take a break.

He leaned back on his chair and stretched his arms up and behind him, the movement getting his blood flowing again. He spared a glance at all the information in front of him. With another sigh, his eyes wandered once more until landing.

Dan blushed.

He dropped his gaze almost immediately and stared down. The wood patterns of the table were suddenly much more interesting. After a moment of contemplation, he lifted his eyes back up again. He glanced to his sides and then fixed a stare, all the while pushing aside the feeling that this gaze was rude, uninvited even.

It wasn’t how he was staring; rather it was who he was staring at. He was an utter stranger, but Dan couldn’t deny he was immediately attracted to the man with long limbs, whose pale skin and dark hair was a striking and beautiful contrast. Blue eyes hid ever so slightly behind black framed glasses. 

Dan watched as the stranger’s slender fingers slid a book into place and then continued to grab books from a cart at his side. At one point, he was raised on his tip toes to place a book on the shelf high above him and Dan couldn’t help but ogle at the way his back and shoulder blades stretched, only covered by the checkered button-up he wore. There was a fluidity to his movement that was both entrancing and yet also so very reckless. It was endearing and it somehow managed to pull Dan's entire focus.   
  
It turned into a game of cat and mouse between the two and Dan was more than prepared to play. The man turned to give a curious look in Dan's direction, but Dan was faster and fixed his gaze back to his textbook. It was Dan’s turn to feel like he was being watched.   
  
Dan sucked his lower lip between his teeth and gnawed at it as his fingers toyed with the corners of the pages. The man was still staring at him, he could feel it, and it wasn't until the sensation passed that he dared to look back up again.   
  
The raven-haired boy, who at that point was still nameless to the law student, had turned back to his task of shelving books. A black lanyard hung from his neck and Dan squinted to try and decipher what it said.  _ If I'm checking him out, I best be knowing what his name is aside from Hot Librarian #1. _

Before he could reason himself out of the situation, Dan was standing and walking toward the aisle where Hot Librarian #1 and his cart of books were. Objective: determine the name of Hot Librarian #1 without necessarily catching the attention of Hot Librarian #1.  _ Well, maybe I wouldn’t mind a little attention… _

Dan made a show of looking at the titles on some of the spines,  _ you are an actor, you can do this _ repeating in his head like a mantra despite the fact that he stopped pursuing theatre many years before. The dark-haired librarian had turned his back to him while shelving and Dan took it as his opportunity. He slid a little closer to Hot Librarian #1 and managed to catch a  _ Ph  _ on the card before the other turned to retrieve another book from the cart. 

It was a chain reaction of  _ Ph _ sparing a glance and Dan jerking suddenly that caused him to pull a book out of the shelf and send it toppling to the floor. His cheeks reddened as he scrambled to pick it up, but the librarian, bless his heart, bent down to help pick it up at the same time. His lanyard was in Dan’s direct line of sight.  _ Phil Lester, Intern. _ Dan couldn’t fight off the slight grin.  _ Cute. _

“You alright?” Phil asked as he stood up and handed the book back to Dan.

“O-Oh. Yeah, I’m fine. I get clumsy sometimes, it’s just a thing, uh -- don’t worry about it. But thanks.”

Phil seemed pleased with the response, as his eyes lit up and a chuckle escaped him. Such a contrast to Dan’s stammer and his sudden need for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“Not a problem. Really? Well in that case, let’s hope we never get tasked to work together. Clumsy is my middle name! I can’t count on my fingers how many times I thought I shelved a book correctly and then  _ plonk _ , it ended up falling on my head. It’s not a problem.”

“Oh god, that’s concerning. Some of these books are huge.”

Phil shrugged. “Nothing like a minor concussion to wake you up in the morning. Who even needs coffee? Although it probably explains a lot…” He broke into a polite smile. “But is there anything else I can help you with before the next large book inevitably falls on my head?”

Dan was so focused on how everything Phil said was undeniably cute that it took a moment for the question to register. He only nodded quickly and shuffled back to the table, nearly tripping over thin air in his haste. One could assume the one encounter was enough to subdue Dan, but alas his study plan had long since been forgotten.

If a person were to ask why Dan couldn’t look away, he wouldn’t be able to deliver a solid answer. There was just something about Phil that held his attention like a moth to a flame. Was he so desperate to evade studying that he had resorted to checking out a random stranger? Possibly. Maybe. He wasn’t so sure and only knew tearing his eyes away for even a second would prove to be a difficult feat. Not like he wanted to look away anyway. Dan sunk into the palm of his hand. For just a little while longer. He was just taking a break.

-

“Pssst.” 

Dan groaned. It took a slight push to his arm for Dan to start gathering his senses. He was growing more aware of the uncomfortably hard table against his cheek. Had he fallen asleep? If so, would that mean…

His eyes blinked open and he sat up in an instant. He could feel the tips of his ears heat up in the moment he saw concerned blue eyes staring into his. A dopey grin found its way to his face.

“Hello,” he  greeted, wincing just as the far too formal greeting fell from his lips.

Whether Phil took notice of him acting like such a twit or not, he didn’t make that observation known.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to wake you but we’re kind of closing in about five minutes… so you technically would have to wake up  _ anyway _ . Unless you’d like to hang out with the ghosts in the old ladies toilet.”

“The what?”

“The toilet. Ghosts. Spirits. Whatever you call it,” he shrugged. “Oh, or maybe that’s singular. Just one ghost. I’m not too sure myself as I’d never try to be anywhere near one.”

Still groggy from sleep, Dan didn’t know what he was going on about. Yet in any case, he found himself smiling in amusement as the guy babbled on about whatever. Ghosts, was it? Apparently Dan had yet to speak because he was looking at him expectantly. And then continued talking.

“But really, you should head home. If I don’t kick you out, someone else with a less than sunny exterior will.”

“Are you saying you have a sunny exterior?”

“I’m saying I’ve maybe been granted the epithet once or twice. Rather be the sun than a rain cloud.”

“I thought the opposite to the sun was the moon.”

“I thought I told you it’s closing time.” Phil said, and Dan blushed. “Sorry, was that rude?”

Dan shook his head. “Assertive, more like.”

“Good.” Phil cast Dan a look and glanced toward the door, hoping the younger man would catch a  _ certain _ hint. Dan was positive he looked like a tomato as he gathered his things and made his way.

Dan smiled back at Phil as he neared the door, saying a  _ thank you _ , and then looked at the door with confusion. He pushed and pushed but it wouldn’t open.

“Erm, it’s locked,” he told Phil lamely. Phil cocked his head to the side and laughed, tongue peeking out the corner of his mouth and all. Dan was enamoured by Phil’s laugh. “What?”

“It’s also supposed to be pulled.”

And there went the last of Dan’s dignity. 

“I’m too tired for this,” he muttered as he _ pulled _ the door open.  _ Too tired, or something. _

-

A week of exams passed before Dan had a free schedule. A free schedule that was spent entirely through daily stops at the John Rylands library. Dan was never much of a reader, but he figured it’s never too late to start by picking up a random novel and glancing at the page during random intervals. Those random intervals aside, he just wanted to carpe diem the fuck out of his love life and look at Phil Lester. He knew how lame he was being, but that didn’t mean he was going to make any plans to change it.

The cat and mouse game continued on for a whopping two weeks. The game that was once a tip toe around interest evolved into a challenge of who would approach the other first. While Dan was trying to get a grip on himself and muster the courage to actually go up to him, Phil wasn’t necessarily sure about what Dan was trying to do.

On one fated day, Dan was taking a not-so-casual stroll through the tall stacks in search of Phil with some random book about murder mysteries propped in his hands. He hadn’t seen the guy throughout the two hours he was sat in his usual spot and he was just about ready to call it a day when he rounded the corner and smacked into another person.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking,” he spouted. He soon took in the sight before him and smiled in recognition. There he was; Phil Lester in all of his glory, his signature black frames settled on the curve of his nose.

“Oh hey! You....”  

“My name’s Dan.” He found it ridiculous that over these weeks Phil didn’t even know his name. 

“Nice to meet you, Dan. I’m Phil.”

“I know.” 

Dan said it so nonchalantly that it caused Phil to raise a brow at him. 

“I-I mean, your name tag. I saw it on your name tag,” he rushed to explain. His mind was in a frenzy trying to think of a way to shift the conversation. He looked down at the book in his hand and back up at Phil.

“Oh, do you want me to check you out?”

Dan blushed. Again. 

Phil knew something he said triggered the reaction but he didn’t know what.

“Wha-...oh. No I meant, do you want me to check the book out?” Dan shook his head in response to Phil’s intended question, but Phil spoke again after a beat. “Not that I would mind checking you out. Because you’re nice to look at, really.”

Then they were both blushing.

“Well, if you don’t want to check the book out, my lunch break is soon. We could go for a drink at Shakeaway? Only if you want to.”

Dan broke into a full grin. “I’d love to.”

As for what occurs outside the library walls, the stacks wouldn’t be able to say. They’ve heard the two lovers whisper their affections to the day they depart, perhaps seeking greater adventures and creating stories to tell. They all come and go, waiting, hoping for some serendipity in their lives to strike. At least the stacks can say Dan and Phil were but one of the million lucky ones.


End file.
